### ODT Online Sat, 6 Mar 2010Harland speaker at Kobe conference
By Eileen Goodwin
How do you improve urban health?
Dunedin City Council chief executive Jim Harland was hand-picked by the World Health Organisation to help it come up with a strategy to do just that.
Mr Harland attended a meeting in Kobe, Japan, last week to develop a global programme on urban health equality.

Urban planning, if done correctly, could go a long way to improving residents’ health. Obvious examples were water, sewerage and rubbish services, but less obvious examples included the correct use of lighting, which reduced the risk of violent street attacks, and providing facilities such as sports stadiums and libraries, which improved mental health.